@Article{CL.2023.203.205,
AUTHOR = {I. Nkrumah, F. K. Ampong, A. Britwum, M. Paal, B. Kwakye-Awuah, R. K. Nkum, F. Boakye},
TITLE = {Determining the majority charge carrier, optical and structural properties of electrochemically deposited lead tin sulfide (PbSnS) thin films},
JOURNAL = {Chalcogenide Letters},
VOLUME = {20},
YEAR = {2023},
NUMBER = {3},
PAGES = {205--213},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/CL/v20n3/65328},
ISSN = {1584-8663},
ABSTRACT = {Single phase lead tin sulfide (PbSnS) thin films have been successfully deposited on ITO
coated glass substrates using a 3-electrode electrochemical cell having graphite as the 
counter electrode and Ag/AgCl as the reference electrode. In this single-step 
electrodeposition, the PbSnS precursor thin film was directly electrodeposited on the 
conductive substrate from the electrolytic bath solution which contained Pb(NO<sub>3</sub>)<sub>2</sub>, 
SnCl<sub>2</sub>.2H<sub>2</sub>O and Na<sub>2</sub>S<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>. This was followed by annealing in air at 250 °C for an hour to 
improve the crystallinity. The annealed films were characterized by a variety of 
techniques. Powder X-ray diffraction revealed peaks which were indexed to the 
orthorhombic phase of PbSnS with preferred orientation along the (112) plane. Seebeck 
coefficient studies confirmed the type of charge carrier of the film. SEM micrographs 
showed a compact morphology composed of spherically shaped well defined grains 
covering the entire substrate. EDAX analysis of the film was consistent with the formation 
of PbSnS. Optical absorption measurements revealed the existence of a direct transition 
with an estimated band gap of 1.68 eV },
DOI = {10.15251/CL.2023.203.205}
}